Top 20 MAME/Arcade Games by Genre?

[chuckster]

Hi all, I was hoping for some recommendations on arcade games that show what wasn't available (or maybe couldn't be ported well) to consoles. I'm not really looking for the very early games like Defender or Mrs. Pac-Man, more like late 80's on.

I love Beat-'em-ups, Fighters, Run-'n-Gun, Action Platformers, and Racing, in that order. I'm not really a Shmup fan (*cough*I suck at them*cough*) but I'll try anything a few times if it's not too insane along those lines. I'm also probably not going to be able to get into light-gun games on the LED, though of course I dream of a custom cab someday.

So, what would you guys recommend to an Arcade neophyte to really showcase what arcades gave over consoles in the late 80's-mid 2000's? Maybe a "Top 5" for each major genre, or just a "Top 20" with a little background?

[dogman91]

Try these:
http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/system.htm#arcade

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgnQSmb3UM4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rioB5zczRw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=an3feeeR12c

Not sorted by genre, but you can kind of sort that out on your own.

[Gamerforlife]

So you like beat 'em ups do ya?

http://www.racketboy.com/retro/the-best ... eat-em-ups

[fastbilly1]

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